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The authors revealed different modalities of LAIR1 insertion that lead to public and dominant antibodies against infected erythrocytes and suggest that insertion of templated DNA represents an additional mechanism of antibody diversification that can be selected in the immune response against pathogens and exploited for B cell engineering. [Nature]
Abstract | Press Release

Advax™ is a novel adjuvant based on delta inulin microparticles that enhances immunity with a minimal inflammatory profile and has entered human trials to protect against viral pathogens. The authors determined if Advax displays broad applicability against important human pathogens by assessing protective immunity against infection with M. tuberculosis. [Sci Rep]
Full Article

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) uses multiple pathways to harness host innate immunity to enhance its replication. It can also take advantage of the developing immune system and the not-yet-stabilized gut microbiota of young children to facilitate its persistence, and use maternal viral e antigen to educate immunity of the offspring to support its persistence after vertical transmission. The authors discuss knowledge gained from recent studies that pave the way for the development of new therapies for the treatment of chronic HBV infection, which has so far been very challenging. [Trends Microbiol]
Abstract

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The international, multidisciplinary team, led by Alison Holmes, Professor of Infectious Diseases, has been awarded a £2 million grant from the Antimicrobial Resistance Cross Council Initiative supported by the seven research councils in partnership with other funders. The funding will be used to investigate how antibiotic use can be optimized in surgery to address antimicrobial resistance and minimize the burden of surgical infection. [Imperial College London]
Press Release

Novartis and Medicines for Malaria Venture launched a patient trial for KAF156, a next-generation antimalarial compound with the potential to treat drug-resistant strains of the malaria parasite. The trial will test the efficacy of KAF156 in combination with a new, improved formulation of the existing antimalarial lumefantrine. [Novartis]
Press Release

AbbVie announced that Health Canada has granted approval for MAVIRET™, a once-daily, ribavirin-free treatment for adults with chronic hepatitis C virus infection across all major genotypes. [Abbvie]
Press Release

Senior female faculty at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies raise more than twice as much in National Institutes of Health funding for scientists working in their labs as their male counterparts, according to a 2016 internal report on “faculty issues” requested by leaders of the San Diego, California institution. Yet Salk leaders favored male scientists by granting them greater access to internal funds and other resources, the report implies, echoing gender discrimination lawsuits filed last month against the research center. [ScienceInsider]
Editorial

Over the past two years, more than 150 German libraries, universities, and research institutes have formed a united front trying to force academic publishers into a new way of doing business. Instead of buying subscriptions to specific journals, consortium members want to pay publishers an annual lump sum that covers publication costs of all papers whose first authors are at German institutions. Those papers would be freely available around the world; meanwhile, German institutions would receive access to all the publishers’ online content. [ScienceInsider]
Editorial

The National Science Foundation (NSF) in Arlington, Virginia, has decided to double down on its implementation of a congressionally mandated policy aimed at reducing research misconduct among NSF-funded scientists, despite a new report that notes problems with the agency’s approach. [ScienceInsider]
Editorial